Now that the weather has warmed up, if you go down to the local pool you will find that the majority of the children aren't covered up. Where are all those body swim suits plus factor 30 sun cream. The Swiss children appear that they are just running around without hats, body suits etc. Haven't they heard of skin cancer here!! or am I just paranoid!

I think you'll find that they have probably all been covered with sunscreen about 30mins before they left the house.

Sunscreen doesn't have to be visible to be on!

My kids have factor 60 on, hats and will never burn because i take care of my kids

Damn... are you following me tonight Sutter?

There is no real protection in anything over 30, its just marketing. I've heard this from the companies themselves (indirectly) but also from dermatologists (directly) and seen it in a few articles here and there too.

Also, we do need a certain amount of sunlight for Vitamin D. Its bad to burn, but it's not necessarily bad to let your kids get a bit of a tan. The extra melanin in the skin when your tanned helps protect against skin cancer.

I lived in the tropics for quite a while, and you could really tell the people that had a sensible approach to suncare, those who had no approach and those who had total overkill. Made our job very amusing sometimes!

Yes haha

I have to use factor 60 on my son he his blond, and blue eyed and would burn very fast, but because i use factory 60 he is still white (we where on our motorboat for the weekend swimiming in the lake i had factor 30 on andnow i look like a lobster my son is white with the factor 60 on

Our girl is very fair and wears a rash top. I saw on the 'one show' on BBC that in order to get the advertised amount sun protection from cream you have to use about a cup full to cover the normal adult. This means that a bottle would do for one application for two people (or two applications for one person). Astonishing.

Are you sure? I ask because my dermatologist recommended factor 50 for me 'cos the sun hates me.

May I ask were they the same brand?

I have it on good authority that not all factors are equal, i.e. a 15 from one brand may be the same as a 25 from an other etc. There are some 30's that are not worth using at all, especially if you are in and out of the water. I used one on holidays right at the equator last year that was supposed to be factor 18 and in fact it was closer to a proper 30. I've also used so called factor 50+'s which have left me... well... RED!

I advise find a brand that works and stick with it. No matter what use waterproof, even if not going in the water, and apply 30 minutes before going into the sun so that your skin has time to absorb it.

I can't remember the name of the 18 I used last year but it was great, it has melanin in it which seemed to be really good. I still got tanned but not burned.

You've stumbled upon my secret. When I go windsurfing in warm places I wear a rashgaurd one day and sunscreen the next. So that my skin gets the opertunity to get some colour, but then recover too. By the end of the holiday I can usually stop using the rashguard.


My last visit to the dermatologist to get checked up for moles, I was told that it is not bad to get a little pinkish to give the skin a chance to respond to the sun, however alot of people can't tell the difference between a little pinkish and burned so either let themselves go lobster red and risk skin cancer or think that they are horribly burned when they have spent about 3 minutes too long in the sun. Granted this is different for everyone, and different sunscreens react differently to other people skins, but we do need some sun to learn how to cope with it.

I was the only one of my brothers and sisters that experienced a lot of sun (sensibly) as a child (I was on the water all summer from about 12 years old), and I'm the only one that can cope with it as an adult.

Sorry, that turned into a bit of an essay.

Yip pretty sure, but like I said not all 30's 50's or what ever you want to call them are equal. An advertised 50+ is probably just really a proper 30. The thing to do is find one that works for you and stick to it.

Not sure if that makes any sense, but hopefully you understand what I mean.

Switzerland is #4 in the world in terms of skin cancer rates

1 = Australia
2 = New Zealand
3 = ??
4 = Switzerland

But I agree, the level of education and awareness of the general public here is not as high as New Zealand or Australia

Trouble is, it takes 20 years to find out if it worked for you :-(

(speaking from experience)

Yip, I know where you're coming from. I can't get the one I found best for me anymore.

I use a Swiss sunscreen (only available at the Pharmacy) called 'Daylong' and it works really well for me. I usually get a bit pinkish my first day out, but then get really brown. I had run out of my Daylong this weekend and had to use Nivea SPF 20 and got pretty red, despite reapplication.

For higher SPF ie. 50+ there are so-called 'Microsunblocks' (the same company which makes Daylong makes one for kids called Microsun SPF 60), which actually create a physical barrier using micro minerals. If this is healthier than sun exposure has yet to be proven.

This is how I roll. All covered up.

Grim!




Need extra words to post.

What would the advice be for non white people?

I get very very dark and I always use sunscreen, even if I don't really need it, because it also moisturizes the skin and keeps it from drying out in the sun.

Maybe a lower SPF just to be on the safe side. IMHO anything under SPF15 is useless.

We don't take our little fella out between 11am and 3pm when the heat of the sun is most intense. We also slather him in factor 30 cream and he has a body suit which comes down to his knees and out to his elbows. He's also got one of those desert-style caps with the cloth down to his shoulders.

We were down at the playground at the weekend and I was wincing at the instances of kids I saw with really red, sunburnt shoulders. I bet there were a few sore kids that evening!

The suncream we have is by Ambre Solaire and goes on blue so you can see where you have done. Fortunately it fades clear otherwise the other kids would think our little guy was an alien...

Same as for the paler skinned people but you have a lower risk of skin cancer...

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/hea...isk/blackskin/

Yes you may. The factor 60 is by La Roche.posay it is multi resistant against water, and sweat.

The Factor 30 was by another brand.

The factor 60 really is very good my little boy is blond, and blue eyed, and he was on the boat at the lake all weekend swimming, and he his still white